India vs England, 5th Test, Preview: Battered India eye consolation win

India have a mountain of a task against England in the fifth Test

London, September 6: Battered after yet another deflating series defeat, the Indian team will be aiming to pick up the pieces and spoil Alastair Cook's farewell party in the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval on Friday (September 7).

With England taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match Test series, the final match at the Oval is only of academic importance but Virat Kohli will want to finish on a high. A scoreline of 2-3 will certainly look much better than 1-4.

Chief coach Ravi Shastri has tried to keep the morale of the team high by calling it the "best travelling side in last 15 years", something that is not corroborated by facts.

SHASTRI DEFENDS TEAM" title="COOK RETIRES | SHASTRI DEFENDS TEAM" />COOK RETIRES | SHASTRI DEFENDS TEAM

A statistical lowdown will show that India under Sourav Ganguly's leadership drawn Test series in England (2002) and Australia (2003-04) apart from winning a Test in West Indies (a team that had Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Shivanarine Chanderpaul) and a series in Pakistan.

Under Rahul Dravid, India won a Test series each in West Indies (2006) and England (2007) apart from winning a Test in South Africa. Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian team won a series in New Zealand and also for the only time drew a series in South Africa.

Hello from The Oval Cricket Ground.

Our venue for the 5th and final Test against England.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/cuhTXsm3pG
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 5, 2018

Having lost back to back overseas series in South Africa and England, the myth of being good travellers has been busted and they have not been able to convince that they are good enough to win a series outside the sub-continent.
The Kohli-led side though has retained their number one Test ranking despite series losses in both overseas tours in 2018 thus far.

While they would want to play the best possible eleven, there is also a case for experimentation with the line-up. With Prithvi Shaw's inclusion in the Test squad, the Indian selectors are looking ahead to the next line of openers.

A school of thought suggests that Shaw should be thrown into the deep end of the pool to ascertain if he can take on the pressure of facing the best bowlers international cricket has to offer.

Even if he fails to get going in this one-off Test, at age 18, Shaw still has time to climb the ladder again. Meanwhile, any success on his part will provide an easy answer to the opening conundrum ahead of the tour of Australia. However, the other school of thought suggests that the current opening combination of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul ought to be retained.

If the selectors are indeed looking ahead, this could prove to be a last chance for either of them to impress before the series against West Indies and the domestic first-class season begins back at home. Early indicators are that Shaw will have to wait for his chance, at least until the home season.

England win the 4th Test by 60 runs and take an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five match Test series.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YKknZmdRM2
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2018

Elsewhere though, India will be looking to play with their lower-middle order and bowling combinations. With Hardik Pandya failing to impress with the bat, the management could try Hanuma Vihari in the middle, as he is also a handy spinner.

Ravindra Jadeja looks set to play his first Test on tour, with Ravichandran Ashwin not bowling in the nets and moving gingerly as well. While there is no confirmation from the management, it has been reliably learnt that he has aggravated his hip strain and will miss out on the final Test.

Jasprit Bumrah could also be rested keeping in view the Asia Cup beginning next week in the UAE.

For England, this Test will be marked more by emotion than anything else. One of their greatest ever, Alastair Cook, takes his final bow and leaves the hosts potentially searching for two openers for their tour of Sri Lanka later in the year.

England could also opt to rest one of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in light of their workloads, as Chris Woakes is fit again and available for selection.

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